Not Nearly As Long As That
AN: the characters aren't mine. The title line does come from the end of the pilot episode, which of course belongs to JF. I'm approximating the date because I'm not sure exactly when the pilot was meant to have ended, but I'll take creative license and say it's still the summer of 1912.
This is from an anonymous prompt on tumblr and is dedicated to the anonymous person and Cobert lovers everywhere. xx
Summer 1912
"When did you fall in love with me?" Cora asked. She and Robert were sitting in the library, both reading, but Cora was becoming too distracted to focus on her book. She had been thinking this question over for the last few days, surprised that the idea was manifesting itself in her thoughts at all. Had it not been for the conversation on the night they were talking about Mary and the fortune hunting Duke, she probably wouldn't have thought to ask. She and Robert had been incredibly happy for so many years, twenty-three of them to be exact, that it was often hard for her to fathom the details of her first year of marriage. It was almost like looking at someone else's life. She had been a mere girl, rather intimidated by moving four thousand miles from home and marrying a man she barely knew. If only she could go back in time and give her younger self encouragement that everything would turn out for the best!
"It wasn't a year, no matter what you think," Robert answered, reiterating what he was saying as he had climbed into bed with her on the night the Duke had left. "I don't know, perhaps I started to fall in love with you when I saw the way your eyes sparkled when I proposed." He leaned over and kissed her gently.
"Robert!" She smiled slyly. "What of someone were to come in and see us? What if Cousin Matthew or Cousin Isobel saw you kissing me in broad daylight in the library? They're still relatively new to Downton... We don't want to give them the wrong impression."
"They won't witness anything the servants haven't walked in on," Robert replied, kissing her again, moving from her lips to peppering her neck with little kisses.
"Well, they're used to it," Cora continued. "We don't want to scare your new heir away. I wish he and Mary got on better."
"Maybe they'd get on better if he was inspired by what he may see here," Robert replied with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Cora couldn't argue with that logic. She returned the kisses until Robert spoke again.
"I think I fell a little more in love with you the day I showed you the grounds of Downton. I liked how excitedly you spoke of every flower you admired and the awe in your expression as you looked at the Abbey."
"I couldn't believe I'd be living here with the man I loved. The only thing that made it less than perfect was that you didn't love me back, that I knew of."
"And I loved you even more on our wedding day," Robert continued. "You were so beautiful, it took all the self control I possessed to not run down the aisle and kiss you as you walked toward me."
"Tell me more," Cora breathed in his ear. She dropped her book on the floor with a loud thud, which might have ordinarily have startled her, but she was so engrossed in Robert's answers to her question.
"And then the first time we made love," he said. "We were both so young and shy, but I was bashful because I wanted you to be as attracted to me as I was to you."
"Believe me, Robert. I was," Cora confirmed.
"Every time one of our daughters was born, I didn't think it possible to love you any more than I already did, but somehow I fell even more in love with you, then, too. So you see, my darling, I can't pinpoint a date that I knew I was in love with you," Robert said. "It was a progression of one thing to the next."
"I was in love with you when I first saw you at that ball in the summer. It was a hot day much like this, twenty-four years ago. All it took was one glance at you. I never believed in love at first sight until then." Cora sighed as she recalled the waltzes she'd danced with Robert as soon as he crossed the ballroom and asked her to join him.
"Now that you mention it, that might have been the very beginning," Robert agreed. "There was something about you that was different. It wasn't that you were American or that your money could save Downton. I admit I was a fortune hunter, something for which I've even told Mama I'm ashamed to admit, but there was much more to it than that. You were the first girl I'd met at any ball or event with whom I could actually see myself spending my life. It wasn't at all the same with the others. You were honest, genuine..."
"You were the man of my dreams," Cora said softly. "I felt about my American suitors like you did about the other girls. It was fun to spend time with them, but I couldn't see it going anywhere further. But when I met you, I felt as if I had come home at last. And here I am," she smiled before kissing him again.
"Here you are," he repeated. "You'll always belong with me, and I with you. I was thinking the other day about how kind you were to me when I arrived home from Africa. I was like a lost man who only found my footing again when I realized that, above all, you are my home. Downton is very important to me, of course, but I'm never truly home unless I'm in your arms. You brought me back to life, Cora. I would have been lost for good if it hadn't been for you."
"I think we'd better go upstairs before Mama or Isobel decide they want to stop into the library," Cora hummed as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"I agree," Robert said. "The last thing we need is for a scandal to begin in our own library."
"Exactly," Cora said as she practically pulled her husband along the corridors toward the staircase. "Like I said, they're new here."
"Just do me one favor, Cora," Robert said as they began to walk up the stairs. "Never assume it took an entire year for me to fall in love with you. No, never, because it was not nearly as long as that. Not even close."
"I won't," Cora answered solemnly. "But you're asking just one favor?" Her voice was coy as she opened the bedroom door.
Robert shook his head. "No, it's just a silly figure of speech. Not at all."
"Oh, good," Cora grinned. "Otherwise I'd be quite disappointed, and that would be a pity."
The End